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Transcript

Solomon Islands Government's fate uncertain following coup

AM Archive - Tuesday, 6 June , 2000 00:00:00

Reporter: Richard Dinnen

COMPERE: This is AM. I'm Peter Cave. Good morning.

The fate of the Solomon Islands' government remains unclear this morning following an armed takeover of power in the capital, Honiara. Telephone links to the Solomon Islands have been cut, making it very difficult to get an accurate picture of the situation. But in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, our correspondent Richard Dinnen has been monitoring the crisis by short-wave radio.

ANNOUNCER: You're listening to news from the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Happy Isles in Honiara.

RICHARD DINNEN: The news on the Solomon Islands network, Radio Happy Isles, was far from cheery.

ANNOUNCER: ... and this was a joint operation from the paramilitary and Malaita Eagles.

RICHARD DINNEN: Early yesterday morning, members of the Malaita Eagles militia and elements of the police paramilitary unit joined forces. They took all weapons from the main police armoury at Rove and from other stations, even from the patrol boats in the harbour. By sunrise they had Honiara under their control and enough of Guadalcanal Island to show the government they were a force to be reckoned with.

ANNOUNCER: The joint operation by members of Solomon Islands paramilitary and the Malaita Eagles forces was launched this morning.

RICHARD DINNEN: They put Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu under house arrest, giving him a letter demanding his resignation.

ANNOUNCER: Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu will be over in [inaudible] today and there'll be [inaudible] residents with him. They'll obviously be guarding him.

RICHARD DINNEN: Late in the day the Prime Minister called his caucus together to discuss the demand. But few members could get through the road blocks maintained by the forces demanding the PM's resignation.

After a one-hour session, Prime Minister Ulufa'alu left to see the governor general, Father Sir John Lapli. But no-one has yet disclosed what took place at either meeting.

The man who has become the public face of this takeover is lawyer Andrew Nori. He's been the spokesman for the Malaita Eagles for several weeks. It seems he's now assumed a leadership role. Certainly he was instrumental in yesterday's takeover. But Mr Nori insists it's not a coup. He says the government has failed to deal with the 18-month ethnic conflict, and this action will set off constitutional processes to appoint a new leader.

ANDREW NORI: ... for the members of parliament who saw the leadership issue in their own way and provided for a standing order of parliament and another constitution.

RICHARD DINNEN: This conflict goes back at least 60 years. US forces fighting on Guadalcanal during World War II brought in thousands of people form nearby Malaita Island to help them. The Malaitans stayed on after the war, eventually becoming predominant in administration and government after independence.

The original Guadalcanal people felt outnumbered and left out. That feeling simmered, then erupted into armed conflict at the end of 1998. Despite attempts by high-profile peace brokers including former Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, the conflict continues. So far it's claimed at least 50 lives and displaced about 20,000 people, and for the moment at least it's brought down another of the Pacific region's democratic governments.